Amajita to play Argentina in opening match of 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup

25 February 2019 – The South African U-20 Men’s National Team (Amajita) will open their 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup account with a clash against Argentina on Saturday, 25 May.

This was after Thabo Senong’s charges were drawn in Group F against the South Americans, Portugal and Korea DPR at the Gdynia Arena in Poland on Sunday night (24 February 2019).

The second clash will see them go toe to toe against the Asians three days later (Tuesday, 28 February 2019), and they will face Portugal in the third and last group stages match on Friday, 31 May.

Amajita qualified for the World Cup for the second time in a row after finishing in the top four of this year’s U-20 Africa Cup of Nations, which took place in Niger earlier this month.

South Africa also secured their first ever bronze medal in their history of competing in the biennial continental showpiece, after beating Nigeria 5-3 on penalties following a 0-0 draw in Niamey, Niger after fulltime.

The last time Amajita reached the knockout stages of this global footballing event was back in 2009, where they played to a 2-1 defeat in the last 16 matches against Ghana in Egypt.

Prior to his departure for Poland to attend the draw, Senong said he was well aware that it was not going to be an easy draw, regardless of which nation they would be drawn against.

“It is a known fact that all the nations who have qualified for the World Cup got there by merit, and will therefore fight to the end in pursuit of doing well in the tournament. We must just work on our preparations and make sure we are ready for the tournament. Irrespective of who we draw, it is going to be a tough one and we must be ready for any eventuality,” said Senong.

The 2019 FIFA U-20 Men’s World Cup takes place from 23 May to 15 June.